life is not a snapshot
by chasingafterstarlight
Summary: Because they were never meant to work out, anyway, but not everything works out the way you want it to. RoseTeddyVictoire, eventual RoseScorpius


**Life is not a Snapshot  
**_Rose/Teddy/Victoire  
Rose/Scorpius_

_life is not a snapshot. it might take a little time, but you'll see the bigger picture_.  
- **Before the Morning, Brandon Heath**

**prompts**: _mirror, autumn, moonshine, fight, crushed_

At the wedding, she sits in the back.

Her red curls are done up into a fancy bun, but it's not like anyone cares. She's just another face to blend into the crowd of faces that have turned up for this oh-so-momentous occasion. The first Weasley cousin to get married out of all of them, blah blah blah, all of that stuff.

It's as if everyone's expecting her to be the next one, to finally give in to Scorpius and marry him. But what they don't know is that she doubts if she'll _ever_ give in to Scorpius. The thing is, she's in love with someone else.

_(the thing is, she's in love with Teddy Lupin, who's getting married today_)

It's crushed her, this thing. She supposes that's why they call it a crush.

Her fingers close around her camera, shoved into the pocket of her jacket she's worn over her dress. Sliding it out, she goes to the screen to show her the last few pictures taken. _(a new improvement in the last 10 years)_.

The first picture, one taken by her mother when she was young that she doesn't have the heart to delete, shows a chubby- cheeked four year old tightly hugging _(nearly suffocating or crushing_) a nearly-twelve year old boy who's about to head off to Hogwarts for his first year.

"_Hey, Rosie," Teddy bends town to smile at the little girl. "You look upset."_

_Hiccupping, four-year-old Rose nods. "Jamie took my dolly, Teddy. He took it and he won't give it back."_

_Teddy just pats her head, smiling widely. "I don't want to start a fight or anything, but I'll get it back for you, Rosie."_

"_You will?" Her eyes shine with young admiration. Breathless, she exclaims, "You're the best friend ever, Teddy!"_

_He stares at her in bemusement. Nodding, he slowly walks off, leaving her to stare after the boy with the crazy blue hair. Once he finally comes back, he puts his hands out to hand her the doll. Her eyes shine as she stares at him. "Thank you, Teddy!"_

_The older boy chuckles as he ruffles her red curls. "No problem, little Rosie."_

"_You are gonna leave this year?" She asks, her brown eyes a bit watery._

_He bites his lip at her obvious sadness. "I am."_

"_What will I do without you, Teddy?" Rose replies, staring at him. "You are my protect!"_

"_Protector, Rose," He corrects her, but smiles at her nonetheless. He leans down to kiss her cheek. "I'll miss you, of course. I'll write to you."_

"_And I'll read it!" She exclaims in delight, still excited that a week previous her parents had begun to teach her how to read._

"_Yes, you will," He grins at her._

_That's when her mum approaches, camera in one hand. "Aw, you two are adorable! Let me take a picture of you!"_

_Rose bounds up, staring at the object in her mum's hand. "What's that, Mummy? I've never seen one before!"_

"_You've never shown your daughter a camera, Auntie?" Teddy grins over at Hermione. "She's quite deprived, then."_

"_It's a camera, Rose, love," Hermione tells her daughter, showing it to her. "See, you can take a picture of what the world looks like at the moment." Quickly, she points it at a tree and snaps a photo of it. _

_When she shows it to her daughter, Rose exclaims in delight at the tree with its rustling leaves. "So you will take a picture of Teddy and me?"_

"_If you want me to," Hermione says, smiling at her daughter's enthusiasm. _

"_Of course I do!" Rose bounces up and down. Then, recklessly, she throws her arms around Teddy just as her mum snaps the photo._ _Then she skitters over to her mum to look at the photo. Grinning, she exclaims, "These are so fun!"_

"_Maybe one day you'll get one, love," Her mum smiles at her._

_Rose nods, before turning seriously to Teddy. "Teddy, when you go, I can look at the picture and I will not miss you!"_

Her heart aches. It's the only thing she's capable of feeling, sitting in the back of a chapel where the love of her life is scheduled to get married to her beautiful cousin.

Opening her bag, she pulls out a mirror. Her intent is to clean up her flyaway curls, but instead, she finds herself staring at her reflection.

_Reflection_. That's all she is. A poorly done reflection of Victoire, well, ever since she fell in love with Teddy. She'd lengthened her eyelashes to be long and luscious like Victoire's. Her curls, she'd tried to straighten them upon occasion. All because it would make her look more like _Victoire_.

Sighing, she tosses the mirror onto the floor, watching it shatter _(like her heart_) and then picking the camera back up. The second picture, one that she'd taken- the _first_ one that she'd taken- flashed upon the screen, a picture of a boy with half of his hair blue and the other half green.

"_Teddy!" She yells once she comes home to find her 'best friend' there, home from Hogwarts for holiday. "Teddy! Look what mummy and daddy bought me!"_

_Grinning, he hugs the tiny six-year-old. He then removes it from her hands. "What is it? Oh, a camera! That's fabulous, Rose."_

"_Fabulous?" She giggles."But now I can take pictures of all my friends! And the pictures move, it's so cool!"_

"_Yeah, it is," Teddy flips her camera around. "This is a nice camera, too. It'll take some pretty sweet pictures."_

"_What are you talking about?" Rose laughs. "You sound like a silly boy."_

"_Your pictures will look great," Teddy explains. "Well, not just because of the camera. I'm sure you'll be a great photographer."_

"_Thank you," Rose beams at him, picking up her camera. "Can I take a picture of you?"_

"_Wait, I'm going to change my hair colour to green, it'll look cool!" Teddy tells her. But it's too late- she snaps the picture, and his hair is something between green and blue. The picture turns out amazing, a great snapshot of a Metamorphagus at his best._

_It's then that everyone (including her) knows that she's going to be a great photographer._

For some reason, she feels like throwing the camera down to the ground and shattering it too, but she knows how much money her parents spent on it. Instead, she just clutches it more tightly in her hands, resisting all temptation.

It's that impulsive side that gets her stuck in Gryffindor, like all the rest of the family. It's what makes her boring old Rose, just another Weasley. Admittedly, a little smarter than the others, but _still_.

Sighing, she wonders when the wedding is going to begin, and then she just flips to the next picture.

In it, a blonde girl is smiling at a blue-haired boy. Her finger hovers over the delete button, but she doesn't press it.

"_Vicky?" Rose, an innocent eight year old, asks her third year cousin. "Do you love Teddy?"_

_Victoire just shakes her head, looking down at her little cousin. "No, Rose, I'm too young to love anyone like that. I'm only thirteen."_

"_There's an age limit for love?" Rose demands. Though she's only eight, her vocabulary range is already wiser than her cousin James', who's starting first year next year._

"_No," Victoire sighs. "But I don't love him, well, yet. I could later in life, I suppose. But at the moment... I'm just too young, Rosie. You'll understand someday."_

_Rose just nods, playing with her camera. Outside the window, snow is starting to fall. "Want to go play in the snow, Vicky?"_

"_No thanks, Rosie," Victoire declines politely. "I can't get my new robes soaking wet. Mum's orders, sorry."_

_She nods mournfully, sticking her fat bottom lip out. "Well, can I take a picture of you then?" She holds up her camera._

"_Of course," Victoire says angelically, flipping her straight blonde hair over one shoulder. Rose grins and dashes over to get the angle set up just right. But it's then that Teddy saunters in, looking better than Rose has ever sees him, and of course Victoire turns around and grins at him._

_Then he grins back._

_And snap, the picture is taken. The picture is pretty much the essence of Teddy and Victoire. But she never shows it to anyone, because everyone already knows that they're cute together._

She resists the urge to just run out of the chapel and never come back. The wedding seems to be off-schedule, as it hasn't even begun yet. Sighing, she leans back a little bit against the plush cushions of the pews. Down the aisle, her little brother is sitting with the Malfoy girl- Gemini or something. They seem to be having a good conversation.

She rolls her eyes. How come her brother gets a good (_maybe okay_) love life while hers is so… woeful?

Someone starts to sing at the front of the chapel, some cliché song about how love is deeper than anything. Rolling her eyes, Rose just flips to the next picture.

It's a badly taken picture of Rose with her Gryffindor scarf wrapped around her neck and Teddy's arm around her. But she remembers that as one of the worst days of her life, well, the aftermath of it.

"_Do you think I'll make Gryffindor, Teddy?" Rose asks him, tugging on his sleeve._

"_I know you will," Teddy reassures her, looking a bit distracted._

_Scowling, she tells him, "Well, everyone keeps telling me that because I'm intelligent or whatever, I'll get into Ravenclaw."_

"_That isn't the only factor," Teddy objects without even thinking about it. "Gryffindors are strong-willed, daring, brave… and you're all of those, Rosie. So you'll make Gryffindor, no doubt."_

_Her eyes shine with admiration. "Oh thanks, Teddy."_

_She skips off to her family, and begins to chat with them about houses. But that doesn't last for long before James interrupts. "I saw Victoire snogging Teddy!"_

_Her world halts for a second. Why would Teddy, her best friend, be snogging her cousin? But she just pauses, eyes wide, before dashing off to the train._

_She makes Gryffindor, of course, but she can hardly think about the happiness that comes with that for thoughts of Teddy._

Her hands shake as she attempts to pull herself out of her daydreams (memories) and back into reality, where music is playing and a thing at the front has been charmed to cast moving photos of Teddy and Victoire upon the walls. Quickly, she looks down, realising she just can't handle this- especially when half of the pictures are ones she took herself.

She glances back down at her camera and unconsciously flips to the next picture. It's a picture of the full moon, in all of its glory. Frowning, she bites her lip.

"_Teddy?" One warm summer night during her third year, she's lying outside under the moonlight of the full moon, right beside her 'best friend'. _

_He glances over at her, face pale in the moonlight. "Yes, Rose?"_

"_Aren't you, well, part werewolf?" She blushes at her own audacity. _

_He stares at her. His face looks amused. "Why, yes, I am, as my father was a werewolf. But what does that have to do with anything?"_

"_The full moon," She replies, looking up into the sky. "Doesn't it affect you in some way?"_

_He just shrugs. "Well, sort of. I feel a little bit… well, wolf-like, if that makes any sense. But, since I am less of a werewolf, it doesn't affect me that much. And…" He grins impishly, "my hair turns brown during the full moon!"_

_Glancing over at him, she realises that his hair is, truly, her favourite shade. She leans over to ruffle it and is surprised by the shock that runs up her arm and the blush that stains her cheeks. Could things possibly be changing between them? Is something changing inside of her? Still blushing, she says, "Well, it looks great, Teddy."_

"_Thanks, Rosie, I'm glad you think so," He says, totally unaffected. "But isn't the full moon beautiful anyway? You should take a picture of it."_

_She takes out her camera and points it directly at the full moon, grinning from ear to ear. Hoping it will turn out all right, she clicks the shutter, watching as the picture comes before her eyes. Nodding, she hands the camera to Teddy._

"_It's wonderful, Rosie, as usual," Teddy informs her. "I swear, you're going to become a famous photographer one of these days."_

_She can't stop the pinkish blush from creeping up her cheeks. "Thank you, Teddy."_

_Suddenly, a clear voice breaks through the silence. "TEDDY!" Rose looks up to see her cousin Victoire standing there, silvery blonde hair being blown back by the wind. "Teddy! You promised you'd meet me tonight, do you remember?"_

"_Guess that's my cue," Teddy sighs, standing up and bowing slightly to her. "I'll see you later, then?"_

"_Of course," She says. But her eyes follow him as he walks back to Victoire and they start to walk off. That's about when she realises it's _always_ going to be Victoire with him._

Sighing, she looks up, where everyone is waiting in anticipation (except **her**) for Victoire to come and walk down the aisle. Her hair, Rose knows, will be straight and fall past her shoulders in that natural way of hers. Her eyes will sparkle; everything about her will be beautiful. Then Teddy will just love her even more.

And she'll stay in the background, like the girl she is. She'll sit there, with her red curls spilling into her eyes, wondering if she'll ever be in the frontline of anyone's thoughts.

Sighing, she takes out her camera again. The next picture is her least favourite- one with Teddy with his arm around Victoire.

_It's not until the summer before fifth year that she realises that she just might like- or maybe _love_- Teddy Lupin, despite the age difference. She's heard over and over from her parents and relatives that love conquers all, so why not an age difference of eight years?_

_Then one fateful day halfway through the summer before fifth year, Teddy and Victoire come down to visit. They enter with Teddy's arm around Victoire._

"_Teddy! Victoire! Such a pleasant surprise," Rose's mum, Hermione, says, letting the two of them in._

"_Teddy!" Rose exclaims, running over and giving him his usual bear hug. However, this time he just hugs her loosely, awkwardly, before releasing her and turning to her parents._

"_Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, we have something to announce," Teddy says ominously. He doesn't look at Rose at all, she notices, and her heart thumps. Had someone died?_

"_You always call us Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron," her father says in his usual boisterous way. "Why stop now? Is something terribly wrong?"_

_Victoire chuckles, brushing a strand of blonde Veela hair out of her face. "Well, no, we hope not."_

"_Well, what is it then?" Rose's mum says softly._

_Slowly, Victoire removes her other hand from behind her back, displaying a ring with a turquoise stone set in the middle of it. Squealing much like some sort of pig, Victoire announces, "Teddy and I are getting married!"_

_That's when her whole world stops. Her globe falls off its axis, the pinpoint that's been holding her together. Eyes widening, she stares at the two of them, at the perfect couple, as she experiences her very first case of heartbreak. Victoire touches her cousin's arm, her voice as sweet as honey. "Are you okay, Rose?"_

"_Just fine," Rose manages, biting her lip._

"_Oh, Rose, you should take a picture of them!" Her mother, who's apparently very excited for the new couple, says, grinning. _

_Numbly, Rose nods, running upstairs to grab her special camera (she's since gotten a new one, but she feels that the new one doesn't deserve the punishment of a photo like this)._ _Once she arrives back downstairs, Teddy's got his arm around Victoire again. She quickly asks them to smile and snaps a photo, handing the camera quickly to Victoire. Her cousin squeals over the photo, but she just nods._

_(that night, she looks at the photo and allows herself to cry for once. She's absolutely __**crushed**_)

After looking at that picture, she hits the button to see the next picture, but there is none. She then remembers that she deleted all of the pictures on that camera except the ones that marked important occasions. Grimacing, she watches as Victoire comes down the aisle in all of her brilliant glory. Everyone's eyes are trained on her, _especially_ Teddy's.

They recite their vows and Rose scowls from where she's sitting in her seat. Then the pastor- man says "You may kiss the bride." Quickly, Rose snaps a picture just as they kiss, because this- the marriage of _Teddy Lupin_ to another woman- this is an important occasion in her life. It marks the end of her fantasies of a life with Teddy.

Teddy and Victoire skip off to their reception, hand in hand, so Rose hangs behind. Someone comes up and taps her on the shoulder. "Rose? Is that you?"

"Scorpius," She replies gracefully, smiling at her friend.

"You look awfully beautiful," He informs her, some sort of blush staining his cheeks, though the _confident_ boy doesn't often blush.

She grins at the boy in his suit. "So do you, well, not beautiful, but striking."

"Thanks, I know," He says, back to his usual confident demeanor. "So, why do you look all sad?"

"Real subtle, Scorp," She replies. "I don't know, it's just weird seeing your cousin get married off…"

"Or is it Teddy?" Scorpius replies.

Scorpius has never been the most observant boy, she realises. Glancing out the window, she notices that the autumn leaves are starting to fall off the tree. Autumn's that period of transition- summer, shiny and warm, to winter, cold and dark. That's about where she's at now. Sighing, she just nods. "Can we not talk about it anymore, though?"

He nods, and they sit in silence for a few moments before Scorpius speaks. "You know, Teddy's not that intelligent, in my opinion."

"Why?" Rose asks, genuinely surprised.

"He couldn't see what was right in front of him," Scorpius replies. "He went for outer beauty instead of inner beauty."

She can't stop herself from blushing. "Oh. Um, thank you, Scorpius."

"No need to thank me," Scorpius says airily. "I was only stating what I knew to be the truth."

Grinning, she holds out her camera. "Take a picture with me, Scorpius?"

He nods, striking a nice pose. And as the flash goes off, she decides that this picture deserves a spot on her camera too. It marks the beginning of her moving on.

Why fight for something you can't have when you can gain something better without a fight?

**A/N: Finitio.**

**This is for the **_**amy-zing**_** ListenAndBelieve (Listen)'s Love Triangle Challenge. My triangle was VictoireTeddyRose. The insertion of RoseScorpius was all my own ;) **

**HOPE YOU LIKE IT. READ & REVIEW.**


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